P024 19370420
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Please note these are transcribed by software,so there WILL be mistakes.
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[Betty and her husband Gervas (G.) shared a birthday - 16th April. This letter was written four days after her 20th birthday, his 30th. She was now 7 months pregnant.]
PORTMANTEAU 024
Sesheke,
N. Rhodesia.
20th April, 1937.
Dear Children,
We are now Fifty, and deserve to be treated with Great Respect, please. (I am sitting bolt upright, and I would be wearing Lorgnettes if I had any).
We had SUCH a happy birthday, but we had hoped that G. might be able to get all his work done the day before and have a holiday, but he couldn't unfortunately, so we just did the same as usual and nothing out of the ordinary, except that we had Oysters (which Mummy sent us very sweetly for Christmas, and which we hadn't quite finished up) and Champagne for supper.
We also had salmon fish-cakes for breakfast and then walked down to the guesthouse to see height was getting on. I think I have said before that it is terribly dilapidated, but that is under-estimating it sadly, as the poor old thing is just about fall down. It was condemned as being unsafe foreign office in 1933, and they took away to lean-to rooms which were too heavy for the poor walls, and there are rats in the roof. Now that Law is coming here as the junior official under Phibbs when we take over from him at Mankoya, this old house has got to be repaired for him to live in, and G. is having a high old time trying to make it reasonably safe!
They have taken the floor of one room and have put down concrete; they have taken down the bathroom ceiling and scraped out the rats' nests and have put the ceiling back and it looks more unsafe than ever! They have put concrete down on the Veranda, and G. has ordered some mosquito-netting to put round it; we want to build up one end so that they could use it for a sitting room, but we don't take down a jutting bit of all their is in case the whole house collapses! We are going to put up a little wattle-and-daub house close to, as his parents are coming out to stay with him and there is nowhere at all for them at the moment.
G. has written a really juicy report to the P.C. on the condition of the house and furniture, and I thought you might like to see it so we are sending you a copy by ordinary mail. You're trying to get it repaired as quickly as possible, as we shall probably have to move into it for the few days when the Phibbses arrive.
Annalie Lanz (alias "Lottie", which she doesn't seem to mind a bit!) Came up for supper on our birthday to help us drink our own health. She was so sweet, and seemed very unhappy at the thought are going so soon; she came up and put her hands on my shoulders and said "Oh, I DO wish you
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weren't going." Isn't it pathetic. She's very lonely down there I think, and she told us rather pathetically how she had had a terrific argument of the day because Lily Hippo (who is Italian, though born out here) and Mr Monteverdi (who is apparently also Italian-born) and Mrs Monte (supporting her husband) were all boosting up old Mussolini like anything and saying how wonderful it all was that Italy was making Abyssinia so servile; poor little Lottie was the only one who didn't agree, and said so very heatedly. They apparently thought it an excellent scheme to massacre all the Abyssinians because they had tried to defend their country from invasion.
We hear that England has invited a representative of Abyssinia to be present at the Coronation next month, so Mussolini has said that it is you will have nothing whatever to do with the coronation. We are wondering what Lily and Mr Monte will do about that!
So one of these fine days we think we will have to ask them all up to tea and get onto the subject of Mussolini, then we will at least be fairly equal – three aside!
Well, I think I'd better get off the subject now before I go up in a sheet of flame.
We have started packing at last, and have done for cases so far – all the spare tea sets, Jane Baden-Poles dinner service, all uncle Wilfrid's glass (which we had to unpack and do all over again as we discovered all the packing straw was thick with minute chicken-lice – beastly little things, so tiny you could hardly see them, but by Jove they could bite!). So we are getting on awfully well, and I think we'll do the pictures next, and some of the cushions.
On our birthday we did Aunt Si Waud's breakfast set and the Robertsons desert service. Oh, I forgot to tell you that Lottie gave us a box of chocolates (lovely ones too) and a tiny bunch of violets that she had grown herself. Lily hippo sent us two nice baskets, and two aloes to stick in the garden, and this rather amusing little card – it's rather touching how she always signs "Votre Devouee" isn't it! Miss Breach sent us up some lettuce and mint, and Mr Reid sent us a leg of mutton!
We had such a satisfactory mail this week. We opened the Bulawayo Chronicle, and there was an advertisement of a Bull Terrier Dog for sale, which we promptly sent for. We opened the letter, saying they were expecting a litter of Fox Terrier puppies (Pedigree) soon, and how many would we like, so we sent for one girl as a wife for Merry. We opened another letter, which was from Nina Gordon saying she'd be
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delighted to meet and look after Miss Griffin while she is in Cape Town, and what is more she will put her up at her own home if her present guests have gone by then. Isn't that pleasing. The next letter was from Mrs Fitzhenry saying that OF COURSE she expects me to stay with her the whole time before Robin comes (I had asked her how long she could bear to have me as I should probably be there for two months or so beforehand). So THAT'S very satisfactory.
Then we each got a slip from the bank telling us how much money we have got, and that was VERY satisfactory! We had letters from both the Fairmount hotel, Livingston, and the grand hotel, Lusaka, saying they have got rooms for me and the Griffin at the times we want them – and it was rather amusing, grand hotel addressed its envelope "Miss B.Shea" "what a nasty shock they will get when a Vast Married Woman arrives!) And the Fairmount addressed its "The Lady Betty Clay" so I am going up in the world!
And from the family, we got a sweet wire from Abbotswood saying "love and best wishes to 30 – 20 from 66 – 51," dear yous to send it. We also heard that Peter has probably got his transfer to the Native Department, which is also very satisfying. Also another Vast episode from Heather dated March 24th, on your way to Bombay to catch your ship home. Poor Mummy and Daddy, both not being well just when you were moving into Abbotswood and Ralph had his holiday, but I do hope you are both well again and able to enjoy your new home.
HowTERRIBLY sweet of you to be giving me all those Robin-things, money, and of course all those nice nighties and things are well worth it. We still haven't recovered from the Blue Shoes yet!! They are kept very carefully wrapped up, when they aren't being looked at, and I shall take them all to Lusaka with me so that he can wear them at his christening. Do they wear Shoes when they are christened? I am not sure about the Etiquette in these matters, but no doubt I will learn.
You know, that really is rather funny, Rosie suggesting that we should call her that Chanel. We had a nice birthday letter from Ardie by this mail, and she said "if it's a girl do you like Petronella?" And the day before the mail arrived I had written a letter "if it IS a girl, I expect we will have to break right away from everybody's suggestions and call it Petronella or something equally ghastly!" No, we don't like Petronella a bit.
Thank you very much for putting all those lovely huge clumps of 2 1/2d stamps on all your recent letters and parcels. We are keeping them or very safely, and I expect they will go into Robin's Stamp Collection! Do you want some of them back, as we have now got thousands?
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There have been two sweet letters from Mum – no, Three! – having just heard about The Twins! I AM sorry to disappoint you over that, but we don't think it is least likely now, though you never can tell and we are such Clever People we might do absolutely anything.
By Jove what fun that Kadir Cup sounds, Heather, and it must have been mizzy having to leave India when you seem to have all had such a truly marvellous time. Any plans for where you are going next winter yet? What about here?!
Mum, there are two things I want to ask you. One is, are you having to pay anything for the films that I send to you? I asked L.F.Moores, our chemist in Livingstone, who sends me films and sends the taken ones to England for me, what happens to them and who pays for them from Harrow to you, and who pays Customs etc., and they wrote back and said that I am paying the postage home but that customs ought to be free and so all the postage from Harrow (or is it Kingsway?) To you. So if you are being made to pay anything at all will you please let me know because you oughtn't to.
The other thing is, could you (or Heather or somebody) very sweetly send us a copy of the Family Tree? I have made a very useful copy of the Clay and the Thornewill Tree – the former to only six generations back, and the latter to 12 – and they are to be stuck into our lovely Red Scrap Book, and I thought it would be rather nice if we were to have the Baden-Paul and the Soames trees in too. We don't want them very detaily and distant, but just so as we know who's who. I don't know if you have any bits of Smyth Tree as well, because we seem to know quite a few of them, and Flowers and things, and I'm so vague as to how they come into our family. (G. says, yes, we DO want it long and detaily.) Would it be an awful bore for you to look up a copy for us? If you sent us the whole thing we could easily return it, as I shall make it out to match the others. I DID want to put Robin in underneath us, so badly!
Now about addresses. When the Phibbses arrived by plane somewhere about 7th May, the idea is that I take their returning plane back to Livingstone (or rather I sit in it – I don't take it back!) when I shall be staying at the Fairmount hotel till about the 15th, depending on when the train goes to Lusaka, as I want to arrive in Lusaka about the 17th (Mrs Fitzhenry can't have me before the 15th because of all her Coronation guests, and I'd like to give her two or three days free before I dump myself on her). But as my time in Livingstone is so short I don't think it is worth your while to send letters there as they might miss me. So EVERYTHING you send after you get this portmanteau, please address to
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me Care of Mrs Fitzhenry, Lusaka, N.Rhodesia.
As G. will be leaving for Mankoya a few days after I go, EVERYTHING for him after you get this please send to him there – just Mankoya, N.R.letters take just twice as long to get to Mankoya as they do to hear, as they have to swim all the way up the river to Mongu and then walk for five days. Isn't it smashing to think that it takes longer to get from Livingstone to Mongu (18 days) than it does to get from Capetown to England! However, when the road to Lusaka is through I expect they will send all males by lorry, and it will only take two days from Lusaka to Mankoya, if they can get across the Kafue River. Merry is growing like anything, but is still just as merry and playful and fond of fly-switches. I'm glad to say that shoes are not attractive to him, though toes are extremely so, also hair, specially when it's down, because he thinks it is a glorified fly-switch only nicer because it gets in such a lovely tangle if one scowls it and bites it and choose it enough. At the moment he's lying factually in an armchair quite happy, but for the last two days he has been very piano with leaking eyes; we thought at first she had pushed them onto the broken ends of a horrible Bush called Euphorbia, which exudes some beastly white stuff which is terribly painful in the eyes. But Musonda said he would be even worse if he had got that, and he thinks it's just that he has stubbed his eyes on the ends of grass, which, having been cut recently, is just about the right height for him to stab his eyes on. We bathe them in milk, and it seemed to hurt him awfully as he squeaked and struggled and blinked his poor little eyes, and when it was done he just lay quite still with his eyes tight shut waiting for them to stop hurting. I was awfully worried at first, and was terrified he would go blind or something, but Musonda says it's Takuli Mulandu (no matter) and he has packed up again now so we're feeling happier.
We had a Domestic Crisis yesterday, and G. gave them the worst row they've ever had. I sent Shimeo up to the office with a note for G. and a cheque to be changed, and G. told him to sit down and wait while he got the money. He heard the door of the office shut, and thought Shimeo had gone to sit outside, but when he came out with the money, low and behold, not a single Shimeo insight. So he sent a messenger off post-chaise to look for him, and presently he came back with him. G. said "I told you to wait here for the money – where have you been?" "Oh, I went down to the compound to smoke tobacco" says Shimeo is cool as brass. So G. tried to client him one that he stopped it with his arm, but when he turned round to run G. got him a beauty. When G.came back for tea he went out and gave Shimeo the most gorgeous row in front of all the other boys, five minutes solid Rasberry without a pause or a word of English. It sounded lovely from here, and a very subdued and slightly tearful Shimeo brought in the tea!
Not worth starting a new page – gallons of love
from
US.
